1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a firearm comprising a chamber member, which is separate from the barrel and defines a chamber and which in a firing block, which is fixed to the receiver, is reciprocable between a firing position and a loading position in a direction which is transverse to the longitudinal direction of the barrel, wherein when the chamber member is in its loading position its chamber is freely accessible and at one end communicates through a loading opening of the firing block with the interior of a magazine holder and at the other end communicates through an ejection opening of the firing block with an ejection shaft, also comprising a slider, which is movable in the longitudinal direction of the barrel and carries a feeder, which is movable from a first end position, in which the feeder is disposed on that side of the magazine holder which is opposite to the firing block, past said magazine holder toward the firing block as far as into the loading opening of said block.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such firearms are known, e.g., from U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,147 and owing to their chamber members, which are separate from the barrel and define a chamber, permit relatively simple and functionally reliable loading and firing operations because by the loading operation each cartridge can be inserted by the feeder along a direct, straight path from the magazine in the magazine holder through the loading opening into the chamber of the chamber member when the latter is in its loading position and the loaded chamber member is subsequently moved to its firing position, in which the cartridge is fired to discharge the round. But firearms provided with such chamber members must not only be loaded but also unloaded when the chamber member is in its loading position and empty cartridge cases or cartridges which have not been fired owing to stoppages, duds and the like must also be removed from the chamber when the chamber member is in its loading position. This is due to the fact that an unloading is effected in that a new cartridge is inserted into the chamber so that the new cartridge suitably acts also as an ejector and as it enters the chamber forces the cartridge case or the like which is contained in the chamber out of the latter into an adjoining ejection shaft when a spring-loaded shutter flap has been pushed open. The cartridge case is then expected to fall out of the ejection shaft only by gravity. But that ejecting operation will involve the occurrance of an excessively large number of disturbances so that the known firearms of the kind described last are mainly intended for caseless ammunition and the ejecting mechanism will be used only for an ejection of duds. Besides, the shutter flap and the associated mechanism is liable to be deranged, and the known feeder, which serves to eject the cartridge cases when the magazine has been removed and is slidably mounted on the known feeder, which is slidably mounted on an ejector rod and adapted to be pushed back against spring force, is an expensive part of the slider and considerably adds to its overall length. The ejector rod serves to eject cartridge cases when the magazine has been removed.